


Pain relief

by stellarel



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28770612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarel/pseuds/stellarel
Summary: You wake up in pain, and the Doctor wants to help.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Pain relief

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is brought to you by your local chronically ill fanfic writer

The Doctor knows.

She _is_ a doctor, after all.

And also she happens to have a very smart and empathetic time-space ship that was very protective of her humans and was more or less constantly monitoring their well being.

So when the TARDIS _beeps_ in distress, interrupting the Doctor from her pre-breakfast repairs in the console room, she puts down her tools, lifts up her goggles, and looks up at the ceiling.

"Everything alright?" She asks, scrunching up her face a bit in concern.

The TARDIS _beeps_ again. The Doctor frowns.

Then, she gets up from the floor, stretching. "Should I go check up on her?"

The TARDIS beeps, this time with a distinctly impatient tone.

"Well, I don't know! Humans are complicated!"

The TARDIS _beeps_.

_(She agrees.)_

The Doctor stands there, for a moment, thinking it through. Obviously something was wrong with her human, enough to make the TARDIS worried, but it didn't seem to be anything urgent or life-threatening, otherwise the beeping would be much more impatient. And the Doctor wasn't sure if she should do something about it or not. Sometimes humans just wanted to be left alone and go back to sleep when they were in pain, turn around and sleep it off, and she wasn't sure if you would appreciate her spying on your vital signs like this.

And she also still hadn't fully recovered from that one time when she had, in a previous life, barged into Amy and Rory's room in what she had _thought_ to be an emergency of some sort.

(In the Doctor's defense, both their heart beats had been off the charts.)

Then, one of the printers on the console whirs into life, slowly printing out a string of slightly-yellow graph paper.

The Doctor picks it up, raising a brow at the ceiling.

It's a print-out of your current biological status statement, provided by the TARDIS - heart rate, blood pressure, and a list of anything that could be outside normal parameters.

The Doctor studies it for a bit, and it looked like a pain response. She furrows her brows.

Thankfully, it didn't look like the " _I have been stabbed and am now currently bleeding out_ " -kind of pain, more like the annoying, dull, prolonged human suffering type, which she guessed was better, but she still didn't _like_ it.

"I should go check on her."

The printer provides one more page, and the Doctor picks it up, curious.

It's a list of things that, according to the TARDIS's research, minimalized the human pain response.

_Endorphins. Adrenaline. Warmth. Touch. For tissue damage, see preferable temperature parameters._

The TARDIS _beeps_ , and the Doctor nods, folding up the papers and stuffing them into her pockets, before heading towards the kitchen.

Helpfully, the TARDIS has rearranged the hallways to shorten the trip, and by the time the Doctor gets to the kitchen, there is already a steaming cup of tea waiting.

The Doctor smiles at this, softly pressing her hand against the nearest wall. "Thanks, Old Girl."

She digs out a tray, and starts gathering other human foods on it that might help. Chocolate and coffee, and all of your favorite breakfast foods that she kept on hand. She wasn't exactly sure if you'd want both coffee _and_ tea, but caffeine boosted the effects of common human pain killers, and warm things to hold were always good, so she took both, just in case.

Then she makes a quick detour to the medical wing, picking up human-compliant pain killers, a heating pad, and an ice pack just in case.

When she knocks on the door of your room, she gets a half-verbal grunt in response.

_Well, at least you're awake._

"It's me. Can I come in?"

A groan, and eventually, a muffled yeah.

She creaks open the door, slowly, balancing the tray and all the other things on her arms and doing her best not to drop anything. The room is dimly lit, and you're in bed, completely hidden under a pile of blankets.

"I brought you some things that might make you feel better." She explains, voice soft, walking into the room.

You peak your head out of the pile of blankets, curious. You shift a little on the bed, and she sets the tray down.

"Breakfast. And pain killers."

You look up at her. "Thank you."

She shifts her weight from one side to another, and sticks her hands in her pockets. "The TARDIS made a list of things that should work for human pain relief." She explains. "You should drink something, and take the pain killers."

"Thanks." You mutter again, reaching for the tray and doing as you’re told, and then settling better into the new position. The Doctor sits down next to you, cross-legged and not quite sure what to do with her hands.

"How are you feeling?" She asks, far too soon for the pain killers to have any effect yet, even if they _were_ effective future alien ones.

"Terrible, but thanks for asking."

The Doctor huffs out a breath and frowns a little. It wasn’t the answer she had been hoping for. She didn’t _want_ you to feel terrible. "Can I do anything to help?"

You give her a weak smile. "Not more than this, I don't think. But thanks."

The Doctor frowns again.

She leans back on her hands, then digs out the sonic screwdriver out of her pocket, points it at the general direction of the ceiling, and soon soft, calm music floats quietly through the room.

"Do you want to be alone or would you like me to stay?"

You tilt your head a little, going over the options. _Her presence sure was a distraction._

"Stay, please?"

She smiles at you, softly. "As long as you like."

When you're done eating breakfast, you settle back into your blanket cocoon again. The pain killers were starting to take effect, and you were craving a few more hours of senseless, painless sleep.

"Would you like a hug?" The Doctor asks, a bit unsure. "The TARDIS told me that human touch can work as pain relief, too, and I know I'm not human but-"

You hum quietly, settling better into the bed. "Yeah. I think that would be nice."

So she settles into the bed next to you, draping one of her arms over you.

You close your eyes, and drift back into comfortable, heavy, pain-free sleep. 


End file.
